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So a lot of modern occult/esoteric/new age thought in the US descends from the I AM Activity, a Christian/American Jingoist/Theosophical (read westerners appropriating bits and pieces of Hinduism and Buddhism and calling it magic) syncretic cult.

They had 1 million members at one point in the early 1900s and popularized a lot of ideas that eventually found their way into mainstream new age thought.

These people were absolutely demonic reactionary freaks. They were rabidly anticommunist and antianarchist, and so they reviled the colors black and red and wouldn't ever where them (except in American flags, though even then they believed that when Jesus or the Count of St. Germain or whoever came back as the messiah he'd make the red stripes purple (their favorite)). They were also vegetarian, but not due to caring about animal welfare or whatever, it was because they thought animals were demons in physical form and eating them could get you haunted or possessed. In addition to diet their detestation for animals led to new members of the cult generally killing any pets they'd previously kept.

Well eventually they absorbed a ton of members of the Silver Shirts/Silver Legion which was a group of American fascists modeled after the black/brown shirts of fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, like top officers too not just rank and file.

The group mostly falls apart after the male half of the founding couple who declared himself immortal via fascist hippie magic, died, but the top brass still had a lot of money and relocated to Mt. Shasta where they remain to this day, putting on Nazi Christian Theosophical pageants to this day.

Uh anyways, these fuckin weirdos, and their offshoots, as I say we're pretty influential in bringing Theosophy to popularity in the US.

My reply here is very rambling but QAA has an episode on them, and the Nonsense Bazaar did a two letter on them (NB is a non-nazi esoteric/woo woo podcast, the hosts are true believers but seem well meaning). These are much better sources than me and most of what I know comes from them.

If this is weird, please let me know, but -

I started thinking about the belief of the God Zeus in ancient times.

He was the explanation of lightning strikes, like a lot of other gods.

Trying to disprove Zeus became a deadly crime. You could be ostracized or killed for not participating in the belief, forget about trying to prove that lightning is just a normal thing that could be manipulated by a lightning rod?

People could then tie other beliefs around something as hard to understand as lightning for the ancient people. Zeus is considered The Father God. A patriarchal deity who subjugates others including his own wife, Hera, the closest to his equal.

Men who benefit from that status quo have an incentive to perpetuate the belief in Zeus. Working with this logic, it's easy to see where esotericism would find its niche in reactionary circles.

You get to be part of the fan club and have the real truth. If you're doing better than your peers, you are considered better. If people fail, they're doing it wrong and they work harder, hiding their failures and lack of belief.

Look at the traits of fascism and then read some mythology around Zeus or other similar father gods.

Look at the ritual sacrifices and the implication of being able to have a bigger or better sacrifice means more favor to you.

The farmer can burn a fraction of his harvest and other believers would see that as justification for having his farm.

It reverses the nature of cause and effect and discourages challenges to the contrary.

That farmer has an incentive in people believing that system works.